As NBC Debuts ‘On Brand’, Bozoma Saint John Goes Back To Her Marketing Roots With Jimmy Fallon

Are you ready for Bomoza Saint John?

When Jimmy Fallon isn’t delivering late-night laughs, he’s apparently dreaming up his next big brand campaign. NBC is launching On Brand with Jimmy Fallon, a new unscripted competition series that promises to bring marketing out of the boardroom and onto primetime television.

The show premieres Tuesday, September 30, at 10 p.m. ET, directly following the return of The Voice, and will air twice weekly, on Tuesdays and Fridays, offering viewers a binge-friendly schedule.

And Fallon isn’t going it alone, and will be joined by one of the most recognizable marketers over the last twenty years, Bozoma Saint John. She will serve as the show’s Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and mentor-in-residence for contestants. This roll is a return to Bozoma’s professional roots — as a decorated corporate marketing executive, and an expansion of her recent pop culture presence on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

The concept of On Brand is simple: Fallon assembles a cast of “creative, clever, and competitive go-getters” from across industries and tasks them with producing campaigns for high-profile companies. Cameras capture every brainstorming session, late-night pitch deck adjustment, and viral marketing idea in the making.

“I love branding, I love marketing, I love the world of advertising, and I think there are a lot of people out there who do as well,” Fallon said in announcing the series. “This show lets the audience and our contestants get a peek behind the curtain of how campaigns for some of the biggest brands come together and what goes into making them.”

Bozoma Saint John: Marketing Royalty Meets Reality TV

If Fallon provides the comic energy and mainstream draw, Saint John brings credibility. Her résumé reads like a who’s who of brand CMOs: Chief Brand Officer at Uber, Head of Global Marketing at Apple Music and iTunes, Chief Marketing Officer at Netflix, and senior roles at Pepsi, where she helped orchestrate Super Bowl halftime shows featuring Beyoncé and Bruno Mars.

She’s been named Billboard’s Female Executive of the Year and inducted into the American Marketing Association Hall of Fame. Now, she’s lending that gravitas to a show that will expose audiences to the high-stakes creativity of campaign development.

For Saint John, On Brand is a chance to shape the next generation of creative disruptors while reconnecting with the strategic storytelling that made her one of marketing’s most recognizable figures.

NBC’s Bet on Branding

By pairing Fallon’s mainstream appeal with Saint John’s industry expertise, NBC is positioning On Brand as both entertainment and a business school case study. The network has achieved success with unscripted competitions across various genres, including music (The Voice), athletics (American Ninja Warrior), and entrepreneurship (Shark Tank, broadcast on CNBC). Marketing, however, represents fresh ground — especially in an era where every viral TikTok feels like a disguised campaign.

For advertisers, the timing is serendipitous. Marketing budgets have shifted dramatically toward digital storytelling, influencer partnerships, and experiential activations. A show that dramatizes how ideas are built, pitched, and sold gives audiences (and brands) a window into the process at a moment when creative innovation feels both more accessible and more competitive than ever.

Saint John’s participation also underscores how blurred the line between corporate leadership and cultural influence has become. She’s not only a marketing executive but also a personality with a growing presence on reality TV. Her dual role — executive mentor on On Brand and cast member of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills — suggests a new archetype for business leaders: executives who are as comfortable on screen as they are in the C-suite.

That duality could make her an invaluable asset for On Brand. She knows how to sell products, but she also understands how to sell a story. And in the crowded world of broadcast television, that storytelling edge is priceless.

Still, for Fallon, the experiment presents an opportunity to expand his late-night brand into primetime. At the same time, for Saint John, it marks a full-circle return to the discipline that established her reputation. But the contestants’ ability to deliver campaigns that resonate — both within the show and potentially in the real marketplace — may ultimately determine whether the format has staying power.

We will have to tune in – to see if they can make marketing must-see TV.